Happy Birthday
by MyChemicalPotter
Summary: It was James Potter's birthday and the Marauders were attempting to make it very special-little did they know, this would turn out to be his best birthday; and the Marauders needn't have done anything! Rated M for language.


**Happy Birthday**

The Marauders—Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs—were known for quite a lot of things.

They were known for the amount of brilliant pranks they had played—and the amount of detentions they received because of them. They were known for their good looks and known for their mischievous reputation.

But most of all, they were known for the legendary parties they started.

Their parties, you see, weren't the typical type.

They were incredibly special.

There were only invited guests allowed—of course, everyone in Gryffindor was invited, select few were invited from the other houses; Slytherins were hardly ever invited though—you see, Andromeda Black, a close relative of Sirius Black was invited; she was possibly the only Slytherin they could tolerate, much less invite to parties. There was a rule that anyone not willing to get drunk was to drink squash only—unless you get unlucky and take a sip of alcohol-tainted squash messed with a drunken party-goer. That, unfortunately, had happened quite a lot, so as time wore on, James Potter had sweetly suggested that this rule should just 'bugger off and get the hell on with it.' Not even Remus knew what he really meant but the rule was kept—simply for the purpose of not bothering strict, James Potter-Hating, Prefect; Lily Evans.

Other than that, their parties had no rules.

They were pretty legendary parties.

It is on the day of March the 27th 1976 that our story starts.

You see, March 27th was James Potter's birthday and the Marauders were planning a party—were they ever not?

As Tradition goes, every party held by the Marauders was to be in the Gryffindor Common Room; starting an hour after dinner and ending 'whenever the hell it felt like ending' (Sirius Black always added helpfully on every invitation).

Invitations weren't given out to the Gryffindor's; it was just loudly expressed by the Marauders first thing in the morning to sleep deprived Gryffindors or there was a large notice pinned up on the Gryffindor notice board—precisely a week before the party. However, other friends from different houses such as Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were given invitations from whoever managed to get them around; it always ended up being Peter for reasons they could not fathom.

So here it was; the morning of March 27th when James Potter woke up.

'Happy Birthday!'

James Potter opened one bleary eye, smiled feebly and turned over, ignoring the grinning, too-happy-for-the-morning face of Sirius Black.

He let his mind drift back, to feel the numb sleepiness in his eyes again—to see that dream again. _It was such a good dream._

Perfect, almost like it was completely created—simply for James to see, to remember forever. Lily Evans was in it, and she was happy with him. She was smiling, laughing and talking to him—like someone she would like. It was bliss. His heart had soared in the dream. There really were no words to describe the perfect dream that had grazed his unconscious mind, simply there to—

THWACK.

'What the…?' James Potter's tired eyes flew open as his head was attacked by a pillow—Sirius' pillow, to be exact.

Sirius looked genuinely upset. 'I said "Happy Birthday," mate! You know, you're sort of supposed to go "Aw, Gee, thanks, mate! You're the best! I hope that by the end of the day a million lovely vaginas find their way to your crotch for you truly are a brilliant friend!"'

Many things happened in the short space of awkward silence to each person residing in the Gryffindor Sixth Year Boys Dormitory. Remus Lupin—in the process of pulling on one of his socks—stopped and stared almost pityingly at Sirius; Peter Pettigrew had laughed softly; brushing his bed hair down; Frank Longbottom rolled his eyes, a smirk on his face nonetheless; James had stopped rubbing his tired eyes and had refused to let the retort that would most surely result in another blow to the head from escaping; Sirius has stood there grinning.

James picked himself up from his droopy position, stretched and reached for a shirt. 'You're not to hit anyone on their birthday's mate.' He said, grinning.

'Really, Prongs, how many years have you lived with Padfoot?' Remus interjected, now shoving his books into his backpack. 'By now you should have realised Padfoot is completely oblivious to anything anyone should or shouldn't do.'

James shrugged, chuckling, 'Fair enough.'

'How very funny, guys. Really, stop it, I'm pissing,' Came the muffled voice of Sirius (who was now pulling his shirt over his head), dripping in irony.

Peter and Remus were now dressed.

'Happy Birthday, Prongs,' Said Peter, smiling toothily. He tossed James a (badly wrapped) present which James caught easily—Chaser skills and all that.

Unwrapping it quickly in his haste, James ripped the wrapping apart. Out fell a large packet of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and a few packets of Liquorice Wands. 'I didn't know what to get you…' Peter said.

'Yeah, you're really hard to please, being filthy rich and all that,' added Sirius, chucking James a box of Zonko's products—of course, Sirius hadn't bothered to wrap it ('You're just going to unwrap it anyway, what's the point?').

Remus smiled. 'You can't really blame us, your poor, low friends.' He passed a neatly wrapped parcel to James and laughed at James' sarcastic expression. James opened the parcel and found a book—_Quidditch of the 19__th__ Century_ by _Aaron George_.

Frank in turn—hastily pulled out the wrapped parcel from his bedside drawer and handed it to James. 'I've really got to go, Happy Birthday James—bye guys.' He departed quickly ('He's gone to have quick shag with Alice, I bet,' muttered Sirius, pulling out a string of quiet laughter from Remus, James and Peter).

'Thanks guys,' James said, smiling as he finally straightened his tie and brushed his hair down. He looked at his reflection in the mirror for a while, analysing the hair—then fluffed it up.

'Right, let's go,' he said, grabbing his backpack as the Marauders shuffled to the doorway and made their way down to breakfast.

Normally, the Marauders would be loud, boisterous and extremely energetic for the morning when making their entrance into the Great Hall—today though, Peter had dragged James onwards (with a 'get on with it' look he threw at Remus and Sirius) to talk to him about something or the other.

Remus and Sirius were now in the process of whispering—fast and urgent.

'Okay, so did you talk to Evans?' Sirius asked.

'Caught her last night before we all left for the prefects meeting—she said no.' Remus replied, sadly.

'No?' Sirius' voice had raised a few octaves high and Remus hurried to shush him. 'Sorry…no?' He whispered.

'That's what she said.' He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. 'One chance, really. I think Lily's slightly mad at me—or all of us, but…'

'Merlin, Evans' such an uptight bitch!'

'Padfoot.'

'Really though.'

It was up to now that James hadn't noticed his other two best friends were now lagging behind are were talking in low tones. 'Hey!' he called out 'What're you talking about?'

Of course, being the loving best friends they were, they didn't tell him. They proceeded to breakfast.

I'd like to tell you that the rest of the day—the schooling part of the day—was rather uneventful. Sure, Lily avoided the Marauders, the Marauders bugged and pranked everyone and anyone, the lessons were hard as they were in the middle of two important years (fifth and seventh), the lunch and breakfast was utterly brilliant and Frank Longbottom had forgotten quite a few things—like I said, nothing out of the ordinary.

(Although, Lily Evans did have trouble sleeping last night after Remus had talked to her).

_(What Had Happened That Night)._

Lily Evans had always liked Remus—out of all the Marauders, he was the least arrogant, he least obnoxious and the sweetest of them all. Lily Evans had always like Remus—up until that moment just a few hours ago when he had approached her and asked her if he could talk to her for a while.

He led her to the corner of the Gryffindor Common Room and then turned to her, an almost scared expression on his scarred face. 'Lily, I…' he hesitated.

She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, she replied, 'You…?'

'I'm…it's just that…It's Pr—James' birthday tomorrow.'

There was a short silence.

'Oh.' Lily started. 'Oh. O-okay. Extend my birthday wishes to Potter, then.' She said, smiling. She started to turn—hoping he didn't want her to do anything more.

'Wait.'

_Damn,_ she thought. 'Yes?' she said, smiling tightly as she turned around to face him again.

'Well, James—it's hard to buy presents for him, that rich kid. You know, right…? James…he likes you.'

Another silence—this one slightly longer.

'O-okay, thanks Remus. Can I go now?'

'No. I…well Sirius was wondering really, it was his idea—I (Sirius was wondering)…'

'Remus!' Lily laughed. 'Really, what is it?'

He sighed. 'Would you kiss James tomorrow?'

This time, the silence stretched on for quite a while and Remus had started to panic.

'Excuse me?' She said at last—though it would have been better for her to remain quite as a deadly whisper had entered her voice.

'I'm sorry, I knew you wouldn't—it…I'm sorry…' Remus clarified, backing away.

'No. Remus…What? Why?'

'One chance, Lily, that's all he's asking for.' And with that Remus was gone.

In the few hours that came after that, Lily was under the impression that Remus would now hate her for being horrible—or so she thought—because he would now assume that she never wanted to have James Potter happy.

In the few hours that came after that, Remus was under the impression that Lily would now hate him for asking her to do something that she had sworn never to do—to her closest friend, Mary MacDonald.

So, with this in mind, both of them avoided the other the next day.

Now, back to the story.

By the time it was dinner time, the Marauders were ecstatic—one hour of dinner, and then the party was going to start.

They had previously—during Divination (because they really didn't care about that lesson)—skipped class, slipped behind the statue of the one-eyed witch and entered the cellar of Honeydukes. Then, they had bought as many sweets as possible (levitating boxes and boxes of various treats)—then, they proceeded into The Three Broomsticks (Sirius had flirted with Madam Rosmerta for a while) to get some butterbeer. By the time Divination was over, they were ready.

Dinner was also incredibly uneventful.

Nothing had happened—unless you count the fact that Lily Evans was desperately trying not to look anywhere but her food because the Marauders were now sitting all around her, consuming their dinners.

Unfortunately for Lily, the sixth years all sat together tonight—and for many other nights as well but this one was sufficiently awkward, especially for Lily and Remus.

Sirius sat next to Lily; who sat next to Mary; who sat next to Marlene Gave; who sat next to Alexa Finnigan; who sat next to Alice Flortesque ( a fifth year); who sat in front of Frank Longbottom; who sat next to Sirius Black; who sat next to Remus Lupin; who sat next to James.

(That was all completely unnecessary but yes; James Potter was sitting directly in front of Lily).

In her haste to not start a conversation with James, Lily forced down her dinner (she had no idea what she was eating) and left the table in a hurry with an 'I'm sorry, I just realized I have a very important Potions Essay I have to complete!'

James stared after her then slowly turned to Mary who was also staring at her (with an amused expression however).

'On a Saturday?' he asked Mary, who turned, smiled at him and shrugged.

'That's Lily, what can you expect?'

(Of course, Mary didn't know, but Mary was Mary and she was going to find out).

The door slammed shut.

Lily Evans collapsed on her bed, breathing hard from the running she had done—all the way from the Great Hall to the Gryffindor Sixth Year Girls Dormitory. She breathed hard, her cheeks flustered and her red hair sticking to her freckled face.

_Why did Remus have to go and make it really awkward?_ She asked herself silently, turning to her side and groaning in smothered annoyance.

'Merlin's most saggy old chest!' she muttered as she stood up, wiped her upper lip and proceeded to the bathroom in order to wash her sweaty face.

Of course, Lily would have washed, changed into much more comfortable clothing, curled up on the window seat with a book and would have been completely fine with it. Unfortunately though, Lily had the utmost misfortune of making friends (and getting incredibly close) with Mary MacDonald who loved secrets—be it ones she hears from her closest friends or ones she hears in the bathroom, while in a stall.

(Really though, Lily couldn't stand girls who gossiped in bathrooms).

So, Mary being Mary burst into the Common Room the moment Lily had walked out of the bathroom (now clothed in cotton shorts and a tank top).

'Lily!' she exclaimed. 'What happened?'

'What do you mean?' Lily replied, nonchalantly—or at least, that's what she hoped she sounded like.

(_Damn my misfortune to become friends with Mary,_ Lily thought to her.)

'Lily.' Mary fixed her with a stern gaze. Her icy blue eyes were calm usually, but in moments like this, Mary's eyes could scream out _Death!_

Still, Lily was Lily (stubborn and a fighter) so she replied with an equally stern—and confused—gaze. 'Mary.'

'Lily! Tell me what happened.' Mary placed herself on Alexa Finnigan's bed. 'I'm not leaving until you tell me.'

Lily stared.

'Come on! I'm your best friend!'

'Fine. Only because I trust you won't tell anyone; Right?' Here, it was Mary's turn to tremble under Lily's gaze.

'Right,' she replied.

After Mary had departed after Lily, James turned to Sirius. 'So, what did Evans say?'

Sirius choked on the glass of pumpkin juice he was in the process of inhaling.

'W-what?' he managed to gasp.

'Is she coming to the party? You asked her didn't you?' he replied, quizzically.

Remus interjected, giving Sirius a moment to collect himself.

'I heard Harold Mortsky'—here he paused because James looked at him confusedly—'That bloke from Hufflepuff? The one you gave a moustache last week?'—James smiled in recognition—'Yeah, he asked Lily. She said she wasn't sure…'

'She's going to come anyway, she's a Gryffindor—when does a Gryffindor ever miss out on a good party?' Interjected Peter.

'I don't know…'Sirius started but due to the glare Remus sent him, quickly backtracked. 'Sure she'll come mate, Lily loves you!'

'Thanks Sirius,' James said, amusement laced in his voice. 'I'm not too bothered if she comes or not, you know that. There was a time when I would have cared but not now anymore.' He replied casually shrugging his shoulders.

('Right,' whispered Sirius and Peter kicked him under the table, pulling him into another fit of coughing from choking on his juice.)

'He asked you to _what?'_ exclaimed Mary, jumping up from the bed and gleaming positively at Lily. 'Oh my god, that's so sweet! He cares for his friend!'

'Yeah, alright,' Lily said, now brushing her hair and pulling it up into a ponytail.

'So…'said Mary, somehow managing to make that into a three-syllable-word.

'So what?'

'So are you going to?'

'Mary!' exclaimed Lily, flinging her hairbrush in her direction.

Just then, Marlene Grave and Alexa Finnigan had walked in talking excitedly for James Potter's Birthday Party.

'Lily! Are you going?' asked Marlene, now in the process of unpinning her robes to reveal a pretty party dress.

'That's a really nice dress!' approved Lily, and then shook her head. 'Um, no—No, I'm not going.'

Here, Mary gasped.

'Not going? Not going? Lily you have to go!'

'I really don't think I do,' said Lily, hoping Alexa and Marlene would leave so she could tell Mary she didn't want to go because of that offer—it would be awkward.

'But why would you not go?' Alexa asked, brushing her blonde hair.

'I…I don't want to. Potter and I aren't on good terms and it would just be awkward.'

Marlene turned towards Lily, her brown eyes glinting. 'Actually James wanted you to come, I heard him at the dinner table. He asked his mates if you were coming.'

Lily stared. 'He—he did?'

'See? Lily, it's his birthday! Come on! Please?'

_Damn you Marlene and your pretty eyes,_ Lily thought, cursing her friend's puppy look.

Mary smiled. 'Lily, the least you could do would be to become good friends with him, then maybe next time it's his birthday or he's won a Quidditch game or something, It wouldn't be that awkward.'

'I'm not going! I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm…'

She went.

'She's not coming.' James muttered over and over again, craning over the sea of heads to spot a head of red hair. 'She's not coming.'

'I'm not too bothered, he says,' Sirius said to Remus, 'I don't care anymore, he says.'

'Asshole,' muttered Remus, chuckling.

James needn't have worried too much because Lily Evans _had_ come—but due to the fact that James was now surrounded by flirting Ravenclaw triplets from seventh year, he didn't see her.

But the other Marauders did.

'Bloody hell,' said Remus.

'She actually looks…beautiful…' Sirius put in.

'Wait till James sees her,' Peter chuckled.

Lily Evans hair was straightened from its curly ways. Her hair was put up in a messy bun, her bangs cutting across one perfectly made up eye (done by Alexa, who was charmed with the gift of makeup). Her lips were painted a pale pink, making the black eye shadow stand out more. Her dress was fabulous—it was a knee length black dress.

The chest was adorned by frill—not in a way that made it look princess-y, but one that made it look elegant, charming. The sleeves were see through and reached her pale fingers—the skirt was flow-y, enveloping Lily's thin knees softly. She wore green heels—really, they were the only ones that she had ('It adds colour, go with it!' Mary practically yelled in her ear with excitement.)

'Lily!' called Sirius, gesturing wildly at her.

With this loud introduction to the pretty redhead, James looked away from Sonam Fay and saw Lily.

He smiled in satisfaction—she was absolutely stunning tonight.

Blushing, Lily made her way over to Sirius as Mary had disappeared in the crowd of dancers with Reginald Cattermole. 'Hi Sirius, Remus, Peter.' She breathed.

'Lily—Evans. Hello.' James said, gently pushing Peter away to stand in front of Lily.

'Hi Potter. Happy Birthday,' she said, trying to avoid eye contact with him.

Unfortunately, James was James and he didn't take no for an answer—he proceeded to make her much more embarrassed.

(Here, to Lily's utter despair, Remus, Sirius and Peter walked away—Sirius whispering something in James' ear.)

James pushed Sirius away—('Is Prongs going to get laid tonight?' he had said)—, rolling his eyes at the winking, smirking Marauder. 'Bloody git—I mean, thanks. Thanks for the…birthday thing.'

'Yeah,' Lily smiled weakly, pulling her arms across her chest, thinking how stupid they must look hanging loosely there.

'How are you?' James asked, guiding her to the couch.

_Oh god, stop touching me, this isn't right, stop it Potter. Oh my Merlin, no, No._ She thought, trying to ignore the strong, warm hand that held her hand and pulled her along.

'I'm good.' She answered. (_The shorter the better.)_

'He smiled, looking at her amusedly. 'You know, you're supposed to ask me how I'm.'

'How are you, then?'

'I'm good; it's been a good day.'

They were now both sitting on the couch, Lily with her arms wrapped around her torso and James was sitting with his arm over the back of the couch and one on the armrest. (His legs were also on the table in front of them) What bothered Lily the most was the fact that his hand—his strong, tan, warm and callused hand—was behind her shoulder—inches away from touching it.

'Yeah, being your birthday and all,' she replied, as casually as she could.

He smiled—it was a nice smile. 'When's your birthday? We could celebrate.'

She laughed—she was starting to like this side of James. 'Too late; I had mine on January the 31st.'

He looked shocked—or he was just playing around, she had no idea.

'January! That was…I didn't know.' He seemed to be apologizing.

'That's okay with me, I don't like to make it too big—it's just me and my closest friends.'

'Oh,' Was all he said.

He seemed lost in thought for a while but then smiled. 'Next year, I promise, your birthday will be a blast!'

Again, she laughed, 'Really, James, you don't have to! I don't mind having a quiet party.'

James was quiet for a short moment—shock was obviously enveloping his face.

'What; is there something on my face?' she said, frantically pulling her fingers under her eyes to see any eyeliner smudges.

'You called me James,' he said mock wonder laced in his voice as his eyes lit up.

She blushed. 'Yeah, I…I did.'

'So, Lily'—he purposely dragged that name out—'since when am I James?'

She took a moment, 'Since now.'

He smiled and she smiled back—in this moment of pure joy (to James because Lily was nice to him; to Lily because James wasn't being an arse), Lily leant back against the couch—and came in contact with something warm, rough and solid.

It was James Potter's hand.

She pulled away suddenly ('I'm sorry!') and James laughed—quite loudly and for quite a long time.

At last, he sighed, and said, 'Lily Evans. You never cease to amaze me.'

She blushed (_damn my redhead)_ and asked, 'How?'

'You're always…changing. I don't know. Last week, you were pretty hostile towards me; today, you're…Happy, I think. What is it that you want? If you told me to bugger off, I'd oblige because to be honest…I'm sort of sick of this…ever-changing personality of yours when it comes to me.'

Lily was shocked by his sudden change—she sat there for a moment. Then, quietly, she muttered something.

'Sorry?' he said, pulling closer to her.

She coughed. 'I'd…I'd like to be friends.'

There was a moment's silence.

James took a moment to straighten the grin that was threatening to split to its greatest and replied, keeping his voice as calm as possible. 'Well, Lily, as you haven't gotten me a present, this could do.' His grin broke out as she chuckled. 'Thanks. Really, this…I'd be glad to be friends.'

Sirius Black was passed out in the Gryffindor Boys Dormitory—he had become drunk way before it was four in the morning. By the time he resurfaced, his head was throbbing painfully and his intestines felt horrible—he turned over and crawled to the bathroom—retching painfully into the toilet bowl.

All he needed now was a mental friend.

And thanks to whomever up there who hated him, that's exactly what he got.

James Potter burst in.

'Padfoot! Padfoot! Lily wants to be friends! LILY WANTS TO BE FRIENDS!'

It probably would have been the best birthday _ever_ if Sirius hadn't punched him in the face.

All of that aside, this day (or night) James Potter went to bed happy—finally, he was getting closer. This night, Lily Evans went to bed happy—finally James wouldn't be an arse to her anymore.

A few months later, Lily would realize her love for James but that's another story—for now, James and Lily were happy.

That's where our story ends.


End file.
